THE CAUCASIAN MOTIF IN FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY’S “HOUSE OF THE DEAD”: IN THE LIGHT OF THE POLEMIC WITH LERMONTOV

Abstract

This article is devoted to the Caucasian motif in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “House of the Dead”. This analysis notes its intertextual connection with Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time” and clarifies the multifaceted tasks of the hidden polemic with him: overcoming Rousseauian antithesis of “nature - civilization” and the cult of romantic passionate love. This article also discusses the further echo of this motif in Dostoevsky’s essays of the 1860s, shows its emblematic value for the writer. This motif has become a distinctive sign of the first step towards the convergence of the aristocracy and thecommon people, and therefore, towards the implementation of Dostoevsky’s ideas of Pochvennichestvo.

Keywords

• Dostoevsky
• Caucasus
• Lermontov
• romanticism
• Rousseau
• Pochvennichestvo